Saturday, January 3, 2009

As the sun rises around the world today, it rises on what is, in many respects, the second birthday of Katawa Shoujo.

It was on the 4th of January, 2007, that the infamous sticky (http://katawa-shoujo.com/sticky/ ) was posted and this insanity began.

I won't go through the ins and outs of the last 24 months, the post below this one does that pretty well. Instead, I thought I'd just ramble on a bit and hope that, when I show it to the other devs that they have something worthwhile to say.

Having watched this project evolve over the last two years has been interesting. As the first drafts were being finalised earlier this year, I was finding it surprising to see how the scenarios had changed from our initial plans. But what was more interesting was what didn't change; things that were set in motion a year and a half before that stayed the same for that duration. There were a number of scenes that I read that made me smile simply because they were exactly how I imagined them way back when.

It's the same with the art. With every week there's a new batch of sprites or a CG being discussed, planned, or inserted into the game. Each and every time I am amazed at the artist's take on the game; simultaneously different from what I originally imagined and yet somehow totally capturing our original intent.

But the one thing that surprises me the most about this whole project is the support that we are receiving from the outside world. With only the smallest amount of "official" information from us, word has spread far and wide, and the people watching our various public faces (this blog, the webpage, the forums and the IRC channel) is officially boggling. The bursts of publicity are greatly appreciated, and in our super-secret dev forums we keep tabs of every bit of "press" that we receive. That may sound a little narcissistic, but it does help bolster our motivation (which has been known to falter on occasion). Even something as simple as comments on the blog is enough to make us want to do more. Really, I think one of the secrets to us making it this far is the fanbase that we have built up, and we greatly appreciate your support.

As for any "official" release date, well, there is none. What we do intend to do is release a "demo" of the game in a matter of months (as opposed to years). How many months this will be, and what exactly will be in it is yet to be confirmed, but we'll keep you informed. As for a release date for the "Full" game, well, we hope that we can say that it will be out in "months" rather than "years". However, in saying that, I should mention that I am hoping that there won't be a "Third Birthday" post, and I am not alone amongst the devs who think that way.

I think this now technically long enough to be tl;dr, so I'll stop it there. Thanks to everyone, dev and lurker, for the last two years. It's been insane, but in hindsight I'm glad that I listened to that insane little voice in my head when I signed up for the original forums.

4LS Twitters

About Katawa Shoujo

Katawa Shoujo is a bishoujo-style visual novel set in the fictional Yamaku High School for disabled children, located somewhere in modern Japan. Hisao Nakai, who has had a congenital heart disorder diagnosed just a few months ago, finds his life turned upside down when he moves to a new town and school after a long hospitalization. Despite his difficulties, Hisao is able to find friends and eventually have romantic relationships with one of five main female characters.